Texas Governor Rick Perry expressed disgust over a Sacramento Bee political cartoon depicting the governor boasting about "booming" business next to an explosion, an obvious allusion to the fertilizer plant explosion that killed 14 people in West, Texas on April 17.

"While I will always welcome healthy policy debate, I won't stand for someone mocking the tragic deaths of my fellow Texans and our fellow Americans," Perry wrote in a letter to the Sacramento Bee. "Additionally, publishing this on the very day our state and nation paused to honor and mourn those who died only compounds the pain and suffering of many Texans who lost family and friends in this disaster."

The cartoon, seen here, takes aim at Gov. Perry for promoting Texas as a state where businesses can thrive thanks to low taxes and low regulations.

In a letter to the editor of the Sacramento Bee Perry demanded an apology for the "detestable attempt at satire" according to the Associated Press.

Stuart Leavenworth, the editorial page editor for the Bee, defended the work of cartoonist Jack Ohman.

Leavenworth said that Ohman "made a strong statement about Gov. Perry's disregard for worker safety, and his attempts to market Texas a place where industries can thrive with few regulations."

On his personal blog Ohman defended his work by comparing his "tasteless" cartoon to the Texas government's failures to properly regulate and inspect industrial plants.

"One of the burdensome regulations (Gov. Perry) neglected to mention was the fact that his state hadn't really gotten around to checking out that fertilizer plant," Ohman said. "So when the plant exploded and killed 14 people, people started asking the inevitable questions about whether this tragedy could have been prevented."

Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst was as disgusted as Perry by the cartoon and called for Ohman to be fired according to the AP.

"I think it's reprehensible for a member of the media to sit in safety and mock such a profound tragedy regardless of any 'point' he is trying to make," Dewhurst said.

Despite all of the critical backlash and the sensitive subject matter the cartoonist would do it all again.

"My job, as I understand it, is to be provocative. I provoke, you decide. I don't dictate, I put out my opinion along with everyone else," Ohman said.  "I sign my name. I own it. In my opinion, I could have gone further. Much further."